Chrome 53 for Android arrives with credit card and Android Pay support, autoplay for muted video

Following the release of Chrome 53 for desktop last week, Google today launched Chrome 53 for Android. Among the new features are PaymentRequest API support and autoplaying of muted video. You can download the new version from Google Play.

The PaymentRequest API allows for seamless and secure payments on the web using a credit card or Android Pay. Users can also provide a billing address, shipping details, and payer information without typing.

PaymentRequest is a web standard, meaning other browsers and platforms will also be implementing it. The idea is simple: When users are shopping on the web, regardless of what platform they are using, they can check out with a single click or tap.

Here it is in action:

Next up, Chrome for Android now allows muted videos to begin playing without user interaction, for better or for worse. As long as the video is marked as muted and has the autoplay attribute, Chrome will start playing the content when it becomes visible. If it starts playing sound before a user action, Chrome will automatically pause it.

Autoplaying videos are the bane of my existence. You wouldn’t believe the amount of time I’ve wasted fighting to keep them off VentureBeat. The reality is that autoplaying videos with sound turned off are still allowed because, frankly, they pay the bills. As Chrome moves away from Flash (autoplaying video ads on the desktop are mainly Flash-based) and builds in features like pausing when sound is detected, I’ll be a slightly happier camper.

Chrome for Android hasn’t had a major update in a while, but the last three releases have been notable. Chrome 51 included improvements to scrolling and battery life, while Chrome 52 featured smoother video playback, faster load times, and better battery life. Now we can’t help but wonder what those autoplaying videos will do to the battery life.